"If you ever wanted to know
what it is really like to be an undercover operative working in diverse
settings then this book is for you. This is a fascinating and compellingbook that describes the variety of
ploys, stratagems, techniques, and methods used by undercover agents.
There is no aspect of being an undercover agent that the author does
not discuss in a sophisticated
yet absorbing manner. ... The author interviewed people
associated with federal, local and private law enforcement agencies
involved in a variety of undercover operations. She interviewed those
who train people in this art as well as the operatives themselves. In
addition, she observed undercover recruits and veterans as they were
being trained. However, she did more than just observe and ask
questions, she also participated in some of the field role-playing
exercises the trainees performed. The book is rich in both analyses and
descriptions of such things as: how undercover agents create and
internalize a “false identity,” create believable cover stories, switch
from their real to their false identities, and cope with the
ever-present possibility of their covers being “blown.”

The author indicates that undercover methods have
been used to investigate a diverse plethora of illegal activities,
among them: traffic in drugs, sex, immigrants, weapons, exotic animals,
counterfeit currencies, organized crime and terrorism. After briefly
describing the history of undercover work, the different types (decoy,
light and deep) and how it has changed over the years, Schneider goes
into the nitty gritty aspects of it. This takes up most of the book and
is the part I found most enthralling and relevant as a sociologist.

The author is not a sociologist or other type of
behavioral scientist, per se. She is a writer and teacher about
body-based learning and bodily expressions of culture. Her academic
position is Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies. Thus she
does not explicitly show how her data are exemplifications of many
sociological and social psychological concepts, issues and
perspectives. Yet, as I was reading the book, I was able to relate and
apply many of the points she and those she interviewed made, to a
variety of sociological topics. For example, her vivid real-life
anecdotes regarding various dimensions of undercover work brought to
mind virtually all of Erving Goffman’s work (which she selectively
references). In addition, sociological/social psychological concepts
and issues were also applicable to much of her data, such as:
person-role fit, role conflict, identity transformations, role strain,
multiple identities, role exit and entrance, self-monitoring,
occupational socialization, master status, role distance,
self-selection phenomenon, emotional labor, and working personality.

A major plus of the book is how the author
seamlessly integrates major points with quotations from undercover
operatives, their instructors and other law enforcement personnel. She
also makes use of movies and episodes of Allen Funt’s Candid Camera
show to illustrate facets of undercover work.

Schneider observes that while there are many
similarities between undercover operations and the acting profession,
as undercover police officer Jerry VanCook notes, “There is one major
difference between doing Shakespeare in the park and working
undercover: the audience that doesn’t find your portrayal of Othello
convincing may show their disapproval by throwing tomatoes at the
stage—the bad guys you haven’t convinced tend to throw bullets.”

The level of discourse is similar to pieces in the New York Times magazine. The book would certainly be suitable
for anyone aspiring to a career in law enforcement in general and as an
undercover operative in particular. Thus professors teaching courses in
criminal justice would want to consider adopting this book. In
addition, since the book is so rich in dimensions of undercover work
that are exemplars of behavioral science concepts and topics,
adventurous professors could have their students taking micro theory or
social psychology courses identify and discuss them. It would be a
great exercise and result in deeper processing of the material. It
would also show the relevance of the sociological concepts. Since being
an undercover agent is a kind of extreme form of covert participant
observation, the book would be useful for graduate courses in
methodology that emphasize participant observation. The problems,
dilemmas and strains inherent in this form of research are illustrated
and discussed. A good example is the strain such work places on
marriages. Very few, if any, undercover agents have happy home lives,
according to the data.

The book has endnotes and a quite extensive
bibliography for readers who would like to do further research about
the topic."

-Michael
Klausner, University of Pittsburgh-Bradford

Deception is not
strictly the avenue of the criminal"Art of Darkness:
Ingenious Performances by Undercover Operators, Con Men, and Others is
a look at the many uses of deception and how it has been applied on any
and all sides of the law. Gathering complex tales of how these
disguises have been used to track down con men and how con men have
swindled thousands of dollars and made their form of crime something to
be viewed as an art form, Art of Darkness is an intriguing piece of
nonfiction all the way through ... highly
recommended for community library true crime collections."

--James
Cox, The Midwest Book Review

"Sara K Schneider has produced a
fascinating, keenly intelligent, and
thoroughly engaging book about 'street acting by undercover operators,
con men and others'. Aptly titled ART OF DARKNESS, Schneider's book
explores the gamut of identity alteration, whether that alteration is
for the support of the law by undercover investigators or by con
artists, and in doing so she encourages the reader to become aware of
identity theft and crime recognition as well as writing what must be
the best documented resource for actors, for students of character
behavior, for those who are seeking the secrets of the con games, and
for law enforcement officers on the shelves today.

"The real identity game is neither
about the individual body nor
the solo self. Rather, it is socially constructed, embedded in the
interplay between my perceptions and yours of what I 'might' be,
between the shape of the nest you make for my identity project and the
one I make for yours. Identity play, this book argues, takes place not
in the 'self', but in the 'scene." And with this introductory
statement, Schneider takes us through countless interviews and
quotations by those in the game of cover. She explores the techniques
required to become an undercover person - how to talk the talk, and
respond to the intricacies of the milieu into which the undercover
person wishes to 'disappear', intricacies that of course include dress,
stance, manner of walking and movement, etc that match the new
environment the undercover person seeks to absorb. She then moves us
into the realm of undercover work within the law enforcement arena,
explaining how the possibility of a good cop becoming a bad cop is a
natural risk.

The other aspects of ART OF DARKNESS
that will apply to all readers
include the fake IDs and forged birth certificates, only two examples
of how our identities can be stolen or new identities can be
manufactured with relative ease. She spends pages explaining both the
simple fast con games that clutter the streets and the more subtle con
games to which we all may fall victim. And as a summing up of this book
she becomes more philosophical about the entire process of identity
alteration and the terminal side effects it can produce.

Dr. Schneider writes and teaches
about body-based learning and
bodily expressions of culture and directs the Center for Body Lore and
Learning in Chicago, Illinois. She is a very bright woman who obviously
understands human behavior as well as anyone. If there is a flaw with
this book it is the placement of the writing on the pages: too much eye
space is taken with indented and extended quotations that disrupt the
reader's focus on the flow of the narrative. Granted, this makes for a
superb textbook resource book style, but ART OF DARKNESS is so much
more than that. This is a book the average reader will find
intoxicating in its information and in the succinct manner in which
Sara K. Schneider writes."

--Grady
Harp, Amazon Top Reviewer #7

What's your cover story?

"I suggest that ART OF DARKNESS
be required reading for a behavioral
psychology class, or for law enforcement officers considering training
and assignment as undercover operatives, or perhaps even for those
enrolled in a school of acting."

--Joseph
Haschka, Amazon Top Reviewer

"Sara K. Schneider's book Art of Darkness captures the the essence of a
number of undercover operators that I have had the pleasure of knowing
on a social basis over the years. They are the kind of people you would
want in your foxhole when a situation is in extremis. It is as if Sara
was able to look into their soul and figure out what drives them to do
this very dangerous work--and most times without any recognition for
what they had accomplished."

--Edward
Pope

"Ever want to
disappear? If so, here's a guidebook for doing so. Through personal
interviews, Sara has managed to unveil the virtuoso identity techniques
employed by undercover operatives, fugitives, pranksters, forgers, con
artists and federally protected witnesses. Here are the secrets of
obtaining fake IDs, building a cover story, maintaining believability,
and dealing with threats to their identities, all without formal
theatrical training. Here are case histories of individuals who may be
criminals, law enforcement officers who adopt criminal techniques,
criminal informants and hoaxers and impersonators who do it for the
challenge as well as for the gain. As Sara points out, Allen Funt's
Candid Camera series on television employed many of the con techniques
she discusses here. But perhaps most of us are actors of sorts-after
all, Shakespeare did say that all the world's a stage and we are merely
players."